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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/agnosticinmediciOOwardiala 


\)t  ^^nomt  in  MtVitim 


BY 

JAS.  W.  WARD,  M.  D, 


For  Private  Circulation  Only 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine 


Presidential  Address  delivered  at  the  sixty-sixth  annual 

session  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy 

held  at  Pasadena,  Cal.,  July  II,  IQIO. 


By  James  W.  Ward,  M.  D. 


1910: 

The  Murdock  Press 

San  Francisco 


'  //.' 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine 

^      The  story  of  Medicine  is  the  story  of  the  ages.     Its  dawn  taps 

^H  the  viewpoint  of  earHest  knowledge.     Its  development  has  been 

C  .  concordant    with    the    culture    and    development    of    the    race. 

Throughout  its  history  one  comes  more  and  more  to  overlook  the 

^:;  merely  temporary,  constantly  shifting  border-lines  of  cults  and 

^  faiths,  and  to  see  medicine  as  a  whole,  to  watch  its  uprise  as  a 

unit,  guided  by  a  corresponding  thirst  for  knowledge  repelled  by 

similar  stirrings  of  the  heart,  taking  part  in  but  a  single  story — 

the  marvelous  tale  of  man's  advance.     This  sense  of  all-enfolding 

«o      unity,  an  ever-advancing  common  destiny  is  best  disclosed  by 

^      watching  the  current  of  philosophy,  as  it  has  constantly  inter- 

>r     mingled  in  the  growth  of  medicine. 

^  Philosophy,  the  speculative  ground  of  the  world,  has  for  cen- 

^  turies  held  a  challenged  place  in  intellectual  pursuits  and  sought 
■;«:  that  which  is  fundamental  without  in  nature,  and  consciousness 
'Bs  within  itself.  It  has  stamped  its  impress  sometimes  permanently, 
^•^  but  more  often  irrelevantly,  on  the  page  of  science,  in  its  effort  to 
seek  the  goal  of  human  life.  At  this  hour  let  me  rivet  your  atten- 
tion on  the  part  which  the  agnostic  has  played  and  is  playing  in 
the  creative,  the  conservative,  the  practical  and  the  progressive  as 
essential  elements  in  the  evolution  of  medicine.  By  agnosticism, 
as  it  may  apply  to  medicine,  I  mean  the  theory  of  things  which 
abstains  from  either  affirming  or  denying  the  existence  of  scien- 
tific facts.  It  is  a  state  of  suspended  judgment,  all  it  undertakes 
to  affirm  must  be  that  upon  existing  evidence,  upon  demonstra- 
tion, upon  experience  and  occupies  itself  with  one  world  at  a 
time.  The  agnostic  perceives  that  there  is  a  mental  horizon  that 
we  cannot  pierce  and  beyond  that  is  the  unknown — possibly  the 
unknowable.  He  sees  only  natural  causes  and  natural  results, 
and  seeks  to  induce  man  to  give  up  gazing  into  void  and  empty 
space,  that  he  may  give  his  entire  attention  to  the  real  world  in 
which  he  lives. 

He  is  one  of  a  class  of  thinkers  who  disclaims  any  knowledge 
of  the  ultimate  nature  of  things.     The  old-time  agnostic  believed 

262836 


2  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

human  knowledge  was  limited  to  experience,  and  that  since  the 
absolute  and  unconditioned,  if  it  exists  at  all,  cannot  fall  within 
experience,  there  was  no  right  to  assert  anything  whatever  with 
regard  to  it.  He  sheltered  his  claims  behind  a  rampart  of  dis- 
trust where  no  appeals  could  reach  him.  The  modern  agnostic, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  constructive,  fertile,  magnetic  and  honestly 
maintains  that  his  opinions  are  the  very  foundations  of  science. 
His  point  of  view  conceives  ultimate  cause  and  essential  knowing 
of  things,  but  to  him  infinite  things  are  unknowable  or  at  least 
unknown.  He  delights  in  setting  forth  what  medicine  is  not, 
rather  than  what  it  is. 

Life  is  full  of  mystery.  It  is  in  many  particulars  too  deep  for 
the  human  mind  to  fathom.  To  instance,  there  is  no  use  laying 
rude  hands  upon  the  veil  that  enshrouds  death  and  trying  to  take 
a  peep  into  the  darkness.  No  operation  of  mind,  no  flights  of 
fancy,  no  straining  of  the  soul,  has  ever  been  able  to  add  one 
tittle  to  the  knowledge  which  the  world  has  always  possessed  con- 
cerning the  future  existence.  We  listen  to  men  of  science  because 
we  anticipate  the  sequence  in  natural  phenomena  which  they  un- 
cover. We  love  whatever  affirms,  connects,  preserves.  We  dis- 
like whatever  scatters  or  dismembers.  Skepticism  must  be  the 
attitude  assumed  by  the  student  at  all  times  in  relation  to  the 
particulars  of  nature.  The  ground  occupied  by  the  skeptic  in 
science  is  the  vestibule  of  the  "temple  of  health."  Bigotry  does 
not  like  to  have  any  breath  of  question  blown  upon  existing 
order,  but  to  the  agnostic  the  interrogation  of  method  at  all 
points  is  but  an  inevitable  stage  in  the  growth  of  every  superior 
analysis. 

The  agnostic  plays  with  a  miscellany  of  facts,  and  dissects  those 
superficial  views  which  we  call  skepticism,  but  which  will  finally 
appear  in  that  order  which  makes  skepticism  impossible.  If 
agnosticism  more  thoroughly  prevailed  in  the  world  of  affairs 
there  would  be  no  place  for  egotism,  hypocrisy  or  pedantry.  The 
basis  of  the  true  agnostic  is  that  of  consideration,  of  self-contain- 
ing, not  all  of  unbelief,  not  at  all  of  universal  denying,  not  of 
universal  doubting — doubting  even  that  he  doubts,  least  of  all 
of  scoffing  and  profligate  jeering  at  all  that  is  stable  and  good. 
Agnosticism  lights  up  the  vast  background  of  medicine  and  clearer 
view  is  seen  of  the  night,  of  its  pitfalls,  imperfections  and  un- 
realized aims. 

In  the  evolution  of  philosophy,  as  in  the  evolution  of  an  organ- 


The  Agnostic  m  Medicine.  3 

ism,  it  is  impossible  to  fix  with  any  precision  the  period  of 
origin,  because  every  beginning  is  also  a  termination  and  pre- 
sumes the  results  of  a  whole  series  of  preceding  evolutions.  The 
immediate  effect  of  endeavoring  to  construct  the  whole  world 
according  to  the  laws  of  human  thought  has  been  stated  by 
Homan  herewith,  "Natural  philosophy,  in  consequence  of  an 
excessive  impulse  toward  systemic  production,  passed  from  a 
general  knowledge  of  the  possible  to  a  general  ignorance  of  the 
actual."  What  is  science  now,  was  then  mystery.  Mystery  over- 
hung the  thinkers  of  antiquity.  The  element  of  wonder  and  magic 
held  the  ancients  to  the  firm  belief  that  disease  was  punishment 
inflicted  by  gods  or  demons.  The  Greeks  ranged  with  equal 
energy  over  every  field  of  human  knowledge  as  a  conglomerate 
study,  because  no  differentiation  had  been  made  between  priests, 
philosophers  and  doctors.  This  gifted  race,  however,  with 
marvelous  activity  threw  off  the  trammels  of  religious  formalism 
and  superstition.  In  them  the  free  abandonment  of  preconceived 
ideas  is  united  with  the  precision  of  a  geometer.  The  natural 
force  and  versatility  of  their  intellect  made  them  impatient  of 
knowledge  when  supported  only  by  external  evidence.  The  ex- 
cessive employment  of  deductive  philosophy,  ever  finding  the 
general  in  the  particular,  from  which  sweeping  deductions  were 
deduced,  was  their  besetting  error  and  inimical  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  progress.  Hippocrates  brought  order  out  of  chaos,  not 
so  much  from  any  special  observations,  but  because  he  separated 
medicine  from  Ionian  religion.  "The  healing  art  does  not  exist 
for  its  own  benefit,"  said  Plato.  It  was  Hippocrates,  as  the  first 
medical  agnostic  and  vitalist,  who  pointed  the  way  to  real  prog- 
ress through  observation  of  individual  facts.  His  was  an  original 
mind  in  the  exercise  of  original  powers.  However  much  we  in 
our  day  appreciate  this  point  of  view,  the  "Sage  of  Cos"  did  not 
realize  the  importance  of  his  own  work  as  a  logical  instrument  for 
scientific  growth. 

It  was  Hippocrates  who  said  that  "the  physician  who  is  also  a 
philosopher  is  godlike."  Platonic  philosophy  adhered  to  this 
motto,  but  changed  from  one  pole  of  thought  to  another,  and 
ended  only  in  keeping  alive  powers  of  reason,  to  the  absurd  de- 
gree of  seeking  to  prove  the  futility  of  all  reasoning  to  a  direct 
and  concrete  experience.  This  philosophy  of  doubt  had  the  effect 
of  limiting  investigations  to  the  narrow  sphere  of  sense  knowl- 
edge, while  it  encouraged  the  powers  of  observation,  which  must 


4  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

ever  prove  the  handmaid  of  research.  This  post-Hippocratic 
period  paid  special  attention  to  the  totaHty  of  symptoms  as  a 
collective  unit,  but  regarded  the  study  of  ultimate  cause  of  phe- 
nomena as  futile.  Here  we  first  discern  the  recognition  of  symp- 
toms of  disease  as  a  basis  for  therapeutics,  without,  however,  seek- 
ing facts  of  prevention. 

"Nature  makes  nothing  vain,"  said  Aristotle,  and  borne  upon 
the  wings  of  his  philosophy  the  "doctrine  of  final  cause"  appeared, 
and  proceeded  to  prove  that  every  human  tissue  and  function 
created  was  the  cause  of  its  existence.  The  influence  of  phil- 
osophy on  medicine  all  through  the  Middle  Ages,  rather  than 
the  material  facts  of  advancement,  gave  zest  to  further  study  and 
acceptance  through  succeeding  centuries.  They  were  intent 
upon  verbal  triumphs  rather  than  solid  acquisition  of  knowledge, 
leading  only  to  a  stasis  in  progress.  In  their  day  the  practice 
of  Galen,  the  principle  of  "contraria  contrariis  curantur"  took 
deep  root,  analogous  but  antagonistic  to,  the  philosophy  for  which, 
at  a  later  period,  Hahnemann  stood.  Soon  the  center  of  gravity 
in  philosophic  thought  shifted,  becoming  chiefly  a  refuge  against 
the  sorrows  of  life. 

Some  one  has  said  that  "life  is  a  strife  of  opposites."  Para- 
celsus' life  seems  a  good  example  in  the  world  of  thought  of  the 
"falsehood  of  extremes."  He  was  opposed  to  authority  because 
it  was  authority.  Born  in  an  age  when  speculation  was  in  excess, 
he  was  awakened  to  enthusiasm  for  the  happiness  of  men,  and 
sought  freedom  of  opinion  as  a  means  of  reaching  an  harmonious 
form  of  life.  In  dealing  death  blows  to  the  comparative  anatomy 
of  Galen,  who  never  dissected  a  human  body,  he  blazed  the  way 
for  substitution.  He  was  the  "philistine  in  medicine,"  that  in  turn 
was  to  be  slain  by  the  youthful  David — the  better  system — the 
i8th  century  medicine. 

The  doctrine  of  "general  toleration"  was  now  born  with  obser- 
vation, as  the  key  with  which  the  secrets  of  nature  might  be 
unlocked.  Dr.  Moon  says  that  in  the  "Therapeutic  doctrine  of 
signatures  we  see  the  forerunner  of  the  modern  doctrine  of 
homoeopathy,"  and  that  Hahnemann  was  "the  lineal  successor  of 
Paracelsus."  In  this  passing  reflection  upon  homoeopathy  by 
this  brilliant  English  author,  there  can  be  no  element  of  creed 
implied.  What  he  means  is,  that  Paracelsus  revolted  against 
Galen  and  against  post-Galenic  doctrine,  and  declared  he  had  not 
read  a  medical  book  in  ten  years.       Hahnemann  also  declared 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  5 

against  the  widespread  therapeutic  paralysis  of  his  time.  Here 
the  paralleHsm  ends.  Paracelsus  originated  the  doctrine  of  sig- 
natures and  substituted  that  theory  for  all  that  had  pre-existed. 
Paracelsus  declared  "Man  invents  nothing ;  the  devil  invents  noth- 
ing; it  is  God  only  who  unveils  all  to  us  by  the  light  of  nature." 
I  take  down  Hahnemann's  Lesser  Writings  and  read  what  he  says 
when  in  the  throes  of  disappointment  over  medieval  medicine.  I 
quote :  "Well,  since  there  must  be  a  certain  means  of  cure,  as  sure 
as  there  is  a  God,  the  wisest  and  best  of  beings,  I  will  quit  the 
barren  field  of  autological  illustration ;  I  will  no  longer  listen  to 
arbitrary  opinions  with  whatever  art  they  may  be  reduced  to 
system ;  I  will  no  longer  bow  to  the  authority  of  celebrated  names. 
But  I  will  seek  close  around  me,  where  must  be  this  means  of 
which  no  one  has  dreamed  because  it  is  too  simple  and  does  not 
appear  learned  enough ;  because  it  is  not  encircled  with  crowns 
for  the  masters  in  the  art  of  building  hypotheses  and  scholastic 
abstractions."  Hahnemann's  genius  had  just  received  the  spark 
that  was  to  illumine  his  pathway  and  ours,  and  he  exclaims : 
"What !  has  not  the  infinite  wisdom  of  that  spirit  which  animates 
the  universe  been  able  to  furnish  means  to  relieve  the  suffering 
caused  by  disease  which  has  been  permitted  to  afflict  mankind !" 

In  the  uplift  of  his  reasoning  he  recognized  cause  and  defined 
the  necessity  of  relief.  Paracelsus'  lament  was  the  wail  of  dis- 
content. Hahnemann's  outcry  was  that  of  the  philosopher  search- 
ing in  the  dark.  Paracelsus'  desperation  was  that  of  intellectual 
obscurantism ;  Hahneman's  interrogation,  that  of  the  analytical 
mind,  believing  in  Nature's  secret  near  at  hand  and  searching 
through  inductive  methods  the  balm  for  the  healing  of  the  nations. 
Paracelsus  held  in  contempt  all  knowledge  acquired  by  toil  and 
reflection,  relying  solely  on  inward  illumination.  Hahnemann,  on 
the  contrary,  held  in  fitting  regard  historic  medicine,  himself  a 
past  master  of  all  the  sciences  of  his  day,  and  by  his  matchless 
labor  he  drew  the  veil  off  the  face  of  nature  to  the  unfolding  of 
the  law  of  similia.  Paracelsus  was  a  true  child  of  his  age ; 
Hahnemann,  a  man  born  for  centuries  that  were  to  come.  The 
prayer  of  Paracelsus  was  that  of  helplessness  and  benignity — 
the  supplication  of  Hahnemann  that  of  courage  and  a  benediction. 

Medical  knowledge  must  ever  be  "immersed  in  the  particulars 
of_sense,"  and  although  philosophy  may  broaden  its  conception 
and  a€eentuat£._its  tone,  no  metaphysical  or  mystic  conceptions 
can  ever  be  a  substitute  for  tiiat  balanced  judgment  essential  to 


6  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

scientific  growth.  It  was  only  at  the  renaissance  that  medicine 
rose  from  the  bondage  of  medievahsm.  Medieval  physicians 
were  impressed  so  strongly  with  the  idea  of  unity  of  knowledge 
that  they  failed  in  constructing  that  solid  groundwork  upon 
which  each  department  must  rest.  As  they  lifted  up  the  obelisk 
they  did  not  lay  below  the  proportionate  base.  The  validity  of 
knowledge  can  only  be  tested  by  logic.  It  was  however,  repulsed 
at  this  period  and  the  pure  Hellenic  spirit  was  drowned  in  a  sea 
of  mystic  entanglements.  The  barrenness  of  medicine  was  always 
in  evidence  during  these  centuries,  because  experimental  phil- 
osophy was  an  impossibility.  No  specific  contributions  to  science 
were  made  and  but  feeble  evidence  of  the  right  path  for  attaining 
truth  was  in  sight. 

The  world  waited  nearly  2,000  years  for  Bacon  to  forge  anew 
the  weapon  of  inductive  reasoning  and  lend  the  weight  of  his 
srenius  to  the  formulation  of  his  method.  The  science  of  medi- 
cine,  independent  as  it  seems  to  us  to-day,  seems  not  to  have  de- 
veloped in  isolation,  but  always  has  been  associated  with,  and  a 
part  of  the  philosophic  theories  of  the  day.  It  is  ever  true  that 
measures  of  constructive  medicine  are  the  outcome  of  periods 
of  constructive  thought,  and  development  is  always  commensurate 
with  activity  of  the  latter.  Bacon  recalled  men  from  the  study 
of  words  to  that  of  things,  pointed  out  the  power  to  be  gained 
from  a  true  knowledge  of  nature  and  the  methods  by  means  of 
which  such  knowledge  could  be  obtained.  He  claimed  his  true 
mission  was  rather  one  who  sounded  the  "trumpet  call"  than  one 
who  "marshalled  the  troops."  He  insisted  on  the  importance  of 
experiment  and  research.  He  did  for  inductive  logic  what 
Aristotle  had  done  for  the  theor}'  of  syllogism.  This  does  not 
imply  that  Bacon  invented  the  inductive  method  of  reasoning. 
His  strength  of  mind  is  like  the  momentum  of  a  falling  planet, 
and  his  discretion  the  return  of  its  due  and  perfect  curve.  What 
Bacon  endeavored  to  do  was  to  analyze  the  inductive  procedure 
and  to  interpret  what  conditions  must  be  fulfilled  in  order  that 
truth  might  be  reached  in  this  way.  The  world  has  agreed  to 
date  from  Bacon  the  systemic  reforms  of  natural  philosophy,  the 
beginning  of  an  intelligent  attempt  to  place  investigation  of 
nature  on  a  sound  basis,  teaching  science  for  all  time  the  great 
idea  of  reality  and  boundless  worth  of  knowledge. 

"It  was  long  after  the  Baconian  system  that  medicine  was  ap- 
plied with  a  method  appropr"  Ac  to  lacts."     Great  generalizations 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  7 

advance  slowly.  The  deductions  which  Bacon  abolished  were 
from  premises  arbitrarily  assumed,  and  not  tested  by  verification 
through  specific  experience.  Until  the  eighteenth  century  had 
well-nigh  closed,  we  find  philosophy  confounded  with  metaphysics 
and  science  with  physics.  This  was  dispersed  by  the  spirit  of 
agnosticism  engendered  in  the  human  mind,  fostered  by  the 
promptings  of  science. 

Truths,  noL  based  on  sound  comprehensions  of  its  right  place 
ancl  meaning,  proves  little  better  than  error.  It  is  within  the 
pDWeFof  inductive  reasoning  to  explain  the  facts,  whereas  form- 
erly the  hypothesis  must  harmonize  with  their  shiftless  theolo- 
gians. The  possibilities  of  human  life  analyzed  through  logic, 
the  instrument  of  philosophy,  has  only  been  appreciated  in  keep- 
ing with  the  unfolding  of  medical  science  in  its  protection  of 
public  health  to  the  attainment  of  the  ideal  and  of  existence. 
The  study  of  inductive  philosophy  created  a  spirit  of  criticism 
which  was  destined  at  a  later  period  to  stimulate  the  study  of 
anatomy  and  physiology,  making  clear  that  science  comes  by 
observation  and  not  by  way  of  authority.  Clearer  vision  now 
developed  by  the  right  of  private  judgment  and  abrogation  of 
precedence.  Much  disappointment,  reversals,  pain  and  anguish 
had  to  be  suffered  before  real  intellectual  freedom  could  be 
born.  In  the  reaching  of  higher  levels,  there  must  of  necessity 
have  been  much  good  lost  along  with  the  dross — the  true  lost  with 
the  irrational. 

The  ferment  in  the  medical  world  had  taken  new  impetus  by 
the  far-reaching  philosophy  of  Bacon.  His  inductive  logic  drew 
attention  to  the  actually  small  amount  of  positively  ascertained 
truth  that  antiquity  had  developed.  His  was  the  duty  of  pointing 
the  way  to  the  stability  of  science.  In  this  stability  truth  was  to 
come  forth.  The  importance  which  he  attached  to  facts  and  cor- 
rect observation  made  error  less  possible.  Science  has  ever  won 
out  through  induction  to  certified  facts.  Certified  facts  have  led 
to  concrete  experience. 

Bacon  was  the  torch  bearer  to  lay  the  basis  of  all  science.  In 
him  experimentation  was  scientifically  founded  to  the  larger  ful- 
fillment through  observation  to  correct  conclusions.  Spencer 
says :  "Before  deductive  interpretation  of  the  general  truths 
there  must  be  some  deductive  establishment  of  them."  John 
Stuart  jMill  claims  the  deductive  method  to  imply  "that  mode  of 
investigation  by  which  the  law  of  an  effect  is  ascertained  from 


8  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

the  consideration  of  the  laws  of  the  different  tendencies  of  which 
it  is  the  joint  result.  This  method  consists  of  three  kinds  of 
operation — the  first  induction,  the  second  ratiocination,  and  the 
third  verification.  To  the  three  the  human  mind  is  indebted  for 
its  most  conspicuous  triumph  in  the  investigation  of  nature." 
Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  deductive  reasoning  is  commonly  op- 
posed to  inductive. 

Deductive  reasoning  is  meant  to  include  all  necessary  reason- 
ing together  with  those  probable  reasons  which  predict  results 
as  true  in  the  long  run,  but  excluding  those  inferences  which  are 
generally  regarded  as  being  open  to  correction  in  the  long  run. 
Descartes  passed  through  the  period  in  which  he  doubted  every- 
thing except  his  own  existence,  because  of  the  power  of  thinking. 
The  ultimate  test  of  this  proposition  being,  that  truth  is  intrinsic 
not  extrinsic.  The  laws  of  action  and  reaction,  of  refraction  of 
light,  and  of  conservation  of  energy  are  all  elements  in  our  every- 
day experience.  The  materialistic  tendency  of  these  philosophers 
was  a  powerful  reaction  from  the  ultra-theological  conceptions  of 
the  time  and  became  a  powerful  aid  to  science,  even  if,  together 
with  Spinoza,  they  rejected  the  idea  of  "final  cause"  from  their 
conception  of  nature. 

Medicine  is  intensely  inductive.  We  collect  our  facts  not  by 
starting  from  prior  principles  to  conclusions,  but  in  orderly 
sequence  and  gradually  rise  from  facts  to  principles.  Induction 
proceeds  from  the  known  to  the  unknown.  A  real  induction  is 
never  made  with  absolute  confidence,  but  the  belief  in  the  con- 
clusion is  always  qualified  and  shaded  down.  Both  induction  and 
deduction  to  the  agnostic  reveal  two  worlds  of  thought.  They 
are  rivals,  side  by  side,  seeking  to  explain  and  balance  the  honors 
due  to  each.  Mathematical  exactitude  of  method  in  both  thought 
and  experiment  has  produced  the  achievements  of  modem  labora- 
tory research.  This  exactitude  has  in  its  brief  but  marvelous 
career  of  three  centuries,  altered  the  face  of  the  globe.  Whether 
its  success  has  been  due  to  abstract  reasoning  or  to  the  practical 
experiments  like  Harvey's,  it  is  equally  valuable.  We  may  regard 
Harvey's  discovery  a  fine  example  of  inductive  method,  because 
the  complete  proof  of  it  was  not  found  until  a  later  date.  His 
education  and  probity  gave  him  the  more  solid  grasp  of  facts  as 
the  birds  of  highest  flight  have  the  strongest  alar  bones.  Harvey 
from  definite  experiments  and  observations  induced  the  fact  of 
connection  between  the  arteries  and  veins,  but  the  actual  anasto- 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  g 

mosis  through  the  capillaries  was  not  demonstrated  till  four  years    ^ 
after  his  death  by  Malpighi.     Thus  it  is  plain  that  the  scientific 
method  harmonized  with  the  materialistic  ideas  of  Bacon  and 
Descartes,  and  thus  a  bold  advance  was  felt  to  the  mechanical 
conceptions  of  life. 

The  study  of  the  phenomena  of  fermentation  in  the  17th  cen- 
tury, amplified  and  bacteriologically  explained  in  our  time  by 
Pasteur,  the  chemist,  the  inevitable  thirst  after  more  complete 
knowledge  of  botany;  the  clearer  ideas  of  physiology  all  com- 
bined to  fashion  a  period  when  disease  could  be  classified  by  the 
great  Sydenham,  and  still  greater  of  practitioners,  Boerhaave. 
As  in  the  center  of  a  circle  all  the  radii  come  together,  so  do  the 
eminent  philosophers  and  physicians  whom  I  have  mentioned, 
tend  to  focus  all  ascertained  facts  to  the  establishment  of  a  medi- 
cal science,  rendering  possible  the  great  discoveries  of  the  19th 
century.  That  all-€mbracing  genius,  Haller,  alike  renowned  as 
the  botanist  and  physiologist,  discovering  the  existence  of  ''nerv- 
ous impulse,"  laid  the  foundation  to  that  knowledge  which  Hahne- 
mann later  called  the  "vital  principle."  He  formed  deduction 
from  experiments  to  facts,  as  the  ultimate  appeal  must  be  facts, 
which  true  science  arranges,  combines,  interprets.  The  age  was 
carried  away  by  the  rapidly  swelling  current  of  knowledge  then 
decisively  setting  out  in  the  direction  of  science.  It  is  Haller's 
glory  to  have  seen  vision  of  the  coming  greatness,  to  have  ex- 
pressed in  terms  of  splendid  power  the  thoughts  which  were 
dimly  stirring  the  age,  and  to  have  sanctioned  a  new  movement 
of  drug  proving  by  his  authoritative  genius. 

The  destruction  of  scholasticism  was  now  complete.  He  came 
to  direct  the  construction  of  a  grander  temple.  He  represents  the 
power  of  carrying  up  any  fact  to  successive  platforms,  and  so 
disclosing  in  every  fact  a  germ  of  expansion.  These  expansions 
consisted  in  continuing  the  scientific  sight  where  the  horizon  falls 
on  the  ordinary  man's  vision  and  through  this  labor  aided  in 
discovering  the  law  which  led  to  the  unfolding  of  true  drug 
pathogenesy.  It  has  ever  been  true,  there  can  be  no  advance 
without  liberty  of  opinion ;  suppression  of  honest  inquiry  is  re- 
trogression and  must  end  in  intellectual  night.  Suppression  is 
the  enemy  of  individuality.  Through  it  philosophy .  would  be 
branded  as  infamous ;  science  would  again  press  its  pale  and 
thoughtful  face  against  the  prison  bars,  and  around  the  limbs  of 
liberty  would  climb  the  bigot's  flame.      Medicine  became  now  to 


lo  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

be  honored  as  a  part  of  natural  science,  theoretically  and  prac- 
tically, as  a  science  devoted  to  the  ideal  aim  of  mankind.  Natural 
philosophy  with  its  over-systemic  production  separated  from 
natural  science,  and,  passed  as  Homan  says,  "from  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  possible  to  a  general  ignorance  of  the  actual." 

It  is  now  plain  that  the  old  materialism  has  been  repudiated 
and  an  agnosticism  has  come  in  its  stead.  Naturalism  has  no 
philosophical  existence;  it  rejects  the  reaHty  not  only  of  mind  but 
even  of  matter.  Once  materialism  is  abandoned  and  naturalism 
found  untenable,  a  vital  force  remains  the  one  stable  position.  It 
is,  therefore,  only  in  terms  of  mind  that  we  can  understand  the 
unity,  activity  and  regularity  that  nature  presents.  It  is  here 
where  the  agnostic  starts  his  study  into  the  unknowable.  If  with 
the  history  of  science  and  the  results  of  science  before  us  we  pass 
straight  on  to  the  construction  of  philosophy,  idealism  has  no 
chance  save  as  an  incentive  for  action.  From  a  confusion  of  prob- 
able opinions  and  fanciful  surmises,  there  gradually  emerges  the 
clear  circle  of  the  sciences  waxing  brighter  as  they  advance  in 
coherence  and  continuity,  while  the  void  of  nescience  beyond 
grows  too  dark  for  shadows,  too  empty  for  dreams.  That  a  single 
atom  should  deviate  from  its  predetermined  course  were  as  much 
a  miracle  as  if  Halley's  comet  should  break  away  from  its  track 
and  set  the  whole  solar  system  in  commotion.  So  in  the  human 
body,  matter  and  energy  are  the  two  fundamental  conceptions  as 
elsewhere.  Matter  in  motion  in  the  body  follows  physiological 
laws,  as  certain  as  any  law  of  the  universe. 

In  searching  for  truth  in  every  direction,  it  is  possible  to  leave 
its  outposts  behind  and  to  reach  the  open  where  speculation  may 
enter.  It  is  more  profitable,  however,  to  discuss  the  existence  of 
the  serious  gaps  within  the  bounds  of  science  itself.  A  working 
hypothesis  has  been  the  rule  of  the  ages.  Nowadays  there  is 
nothing  that  science  resents  more  indignantly  than  the  imputa- 
tions of  materialism.  It  is  a  past  philosophical  dogma.  It  pro- 
fesses to  start  from  the  beginning,  which  science  can  never  do, 
and  when  it  is  true  to  itself,  never  attempts  to  do.  It  is  agnosti- 
cism that  has  led  modem  science  to  separate  itself  from  the  pro- 
nounced materialism  so  common  in  scientific  circles  a  century  ago. 
True  science  will  not  dogmatize  either  by  offering  or  denv- 
ing.  Knowledge  in  the  determinate  sense  is  the  knowing  that  we 
do  not  know.  So  far  as  knowledge  extends  all  is  law,  and  law 
ultimately  and  most  clearly  to  be  formulated  in  terms  of  matter 
and  mind. 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  ii 

We  therefore  conclude  that  "in  proportion  as  psychological 
facts  are  physiologically  interpretable,  and  in  proportion  again  as 
their  physiological  concomitants  are  physically  explainable,  in 
that  same  proportion  will  every  fact  of  mind  have  a  definite  and 
assignable  place  as  an  epiphenomenon  or  concomitant  of  a  definite 
and  assignable  physical  fact  and  our  empirical  knowledge  ap- 
proximate towards  a  rounded  and  complete  whole."  It  is  plain 
that  on  the  physical  side  we  have  a  single  system  governed  by  un- 
varying law,  quantitative  exactness,  complete  concatenation  of 
events — in  a  word,  one  vastly  complex  but  rightly  adjusted 
mechanism.  To  set  out  then  from  this  permanent  material 
scheme  of  inductive  research  and  to  trace  its  working  through 
the  fleeting  multitude  of  vital  sparks  as  one  follows  the  stem  of  a 
tree  into  its  branches  with  their  changing  leaves  and  fruit,  that 
is  a  sure  synthetic  and  direct  method  of  analysis.  We  have  in  the 
foregoing  the  basis  for  intelligent  study  of  pharmacodynamics — 
the  laws  governing  cause  and  effect  in  drug  pathogenesy,  and  the 
scientific  basis  for  intelligent  operation  of  the  law  of  similia.  In 
dealing  with  drug  pathogenesis  we  follow  a  line  regimental  in 
fashion,  with  such  definite  co-existence,  successions,  resemblances 
and  differences  as  fall  within  the  range  of  actual  experience. 

John  Stuart  Mill  in  his  discussion  of  the  deductive  method  with 
reference  to  its  application  to  cases  of  the  "composition  of 
causes"  says:  "It  is  obvious  that  we  cannot  expect  to  find  the 
law  of  tendency  by  an  indu/;tion  from  cases  in  which  the  tendency 
is  counteracted.  It  has  been  judiciously  remarked  that  pathologi- 
cal facts,  diseases  in  their  different  forms  and  degrees,  afford  in 
the  case  of  physiological  investigation  the  most  variable  equiva- 
lent to  experimentation,  inasmuch  as  they  often  exhibit  to  us  a 
definite  disturbance  in  some  one  organ  or  organic  function,  the 
remaining  organs  or  functions  being  in  the  first  instance  at  least 
unaffected.  It  is  true  that  from  the  perpetual  actions  and  re- 
actions which  are  going  on  among  all  parts  of  the  organic  econ- 
omy there  can  be  no  prolonged  disturbance  in  any  one  function 
without  ultimately  involving  many  of  the  others,  and  when  once 
it  has  done  so,  the  experiment  for  the  most  part  loses  its  scientific- 
value."  Hence  Mill  continues :  "The  experiments  are  best  tried, 
not  in  a  state  of  disease  which  is  essentially  a  changeable  state,  but 
in  a  condition  of  health,  comparatively  a  fixed  state.  In  the 
one,  unusual  agencies  are  at  work,  the  results  of  which  we  have 
no  means  of  predicting ;  in  the  other,  the  course  of  the  accustomed 


12  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

physiological  phenomenon  would,  it  may  generally  be  presumed, 
remain  undisturbed,  were  it  not  for  the  disturbing  cause  which 
we  introduce. 

"If,  for  instance,  we  try  experiments  with  mercury  on  a  per- 
son in  health  in  order  to  ascertain  the  general  laws  of  its  action 
upon  the  human  body,  and  then  reason  from  these  laws  to  de- 
termine how  it  will  act  upon  persons  afifected  with  a  particular 
disease,  this  may  be  a  really  effectual  method,  but  this  is  deduc- 
tion." Then  he  proceeds  to  lay  down  the  conduct  for  these  ex- 
periments as  follows :  "In  the  first  place  we  introduce  the  agent 
into  the  midst  of  a  set  of  circumstances  which  we  have  exactly 
ascertained."  Again,  "Moreover  the  difficulty  may  be  attenuated 
by  sufficient  multiplication  of  experiments  in  circumstances  ren- 
dering it  impossible  that  any  of  the  unknown  causes  should  exist 
in  them  all."  Further  on  he  states :  "We  take  the  utmost  pains 
to  exclude  all  causes  capable  of  composition  with  the  given  cause, 
or,  if  forced  to  let  in  any  such  causes,  we  take  care  to  make  them 
such  that  we  can  compete  and  allow  for  their  influence,  so  that  the 
effect  of  the  given  cause  may,  after  the  subduction  of  those 
other  effects,  be  apparent  as  a  residual  phenomenon." 

Now,  my  friends,  do  you  not  recognize  in  these  quotations  the 
full  exposition  of  Hahnemann's  conception  of  drug  proving  and 
the  precision  of  methods  as  well,  the  very  foundation  of  our 
science  which  was  suggested  by  the  immortal  Haller,  but  brought 
into  practical  form  by  the  "Sage  of  Coethen." 

Thus  we  see  the  law  of  siinilia  dogging  the  steps  of  advancing 
science ;  here  seen  and  then  apparently  for  a  time  gone,  like  the 
longest  wave  is  quickly  lost  in  yonder  Pacific  Ocean.  Every- 
thing in  the  world  of  matter  is  subject  to  invariable  law,  as  the 
reaction  of  chemicals,  and  this  very  relationship  of  science  demon- 
strates the  domain  of  homoeopathy.  The  sharp  distinction  which 
Christian  Wolff  brought  into  view  between  empirical  and  rational 
knowledge  has  been  of  vast  import.  What  we  have  to  note  is  the 
existence  in  our  time  of  a  vast  circle  of  empirical  knowledge  in 
the  whole  range  of  medicine.  The  criticisms  on  homoeopathy 
have  merely  touched  the  periphery  of  its  philosophy,  but  have  not 
weakened  its  center. 

It  is  ever  plain  that  as  a  vitalist  and  agnostic  Hahnemann  stood 
conspicuous  and  foreshadowed  the  facts  which  later  were  ex- 
plained by  philosophy.  His  life  resembles  one  of  those  winter 
mornings  when  the  air  sparkles  with  crystals.      To-day  his  law 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  13 

marks  the  zenith  of  intellectual  activity  in  the  evolution  of  thera- 
peutics. The  continuity  of  the  tale  is  now  established  from  Hip- 
pocrates to  Bacon,  from  Bacon  to  Hahnemann,  from  Hahnemann 
to  Mill,  from  Mill  to  the  laboratories  of  our  day.  To  the 
clinician  the  law  of  similia  is  as  the  voice  of  a  guide  in  an  ava- 
lanche of  the  Alps.  Observation  and  experiment  alone  can  de- 
termine it,  and  it  is  to  those  he  has  a  right  to  confidently  appeal. 
The  law  of  induction  has  been  the  pathfinder,  the  facts  of  deduc- 
tion the  road-builder  in  our  science  of  therapeutics. 

Agnosticism  is  not  a  disease  of  thought.  Query,  Is  not  the 
satisfaction  of  doubt  essential  to  all  manliness?  Belief  in  Homoe- 
opathy does  not  alone  consist  in  accepting  the  affirmations  of 
Hahnemann,  but  rather  through  the  impulse  of  deductive  logic 
shown  through  inductive  process,  ratiocination  and  verification, 
we  reach  the  conclusion — 

"Rightly  seeing, 
Rightly  seen." 

Throughout  the  historic  past  there  have  been  two  influences  in 
operation,  that  of  Greece  with  Hippocrates  in  the  background; 
that  of  the  Fatherland  with  Hahnemann  in  the  foreground,  stand- 
ing in  close  relationship,  by  the  influence  upon  medicine  through 
the  respective  eras  and  in  undeviating  parallelism  in  moulding 
all  modern  thought.  Both  laid  their  ears  close  to  Mother  Nature 
to  interpret  the  voice,  as  to  her  teachings  and  as  to  application 
of  her  lessons. 

There  are  in  these  two  thinkers  certain  marked  features  of 
resemblance,  and  others  equally  marked  of  difference.  Both  were 
agnostics,  in  that  they  sought  through  the  unlcnown  to  acquire 
truth.  We  see  their  difference  most  strikingly  in  their  descend- 
ants. The  sincerity  and  marrow  of  Hahnemann  reaches  in  his 
writings.  He  always  worked  with  solid  ground  and  stones  un- 
derneath. He  interrogated  nature  with  the  query,  ''What  do  I 
know?"  Not  until  Hahnemann  touched  the  essentials  of  scien- 
tific agnosticism  with  the  keenness  of  his  introspective  mind,  do 
we  see  dawning  the  age  of  inductive  reasoning  in  medicine  and 
progress  in  therapeutics.  Homoeopathy  is  a  science  by  induction; 
it  is  an  art  by  deduction.  Hahnemann  knew  by  sad  experience 
what  medicine  was  not,  before  stating  what  it  was.  As  a  natural 
seeker  for  truth,  which  grew  with  lapse  of  time,  he  foresaw  the 
natural  connection  between  cause  and  effect. 


14  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

"Behold  he  watches  at  the  door, 
Behold  his  shadow  on  the  floor." 

Hahnemann  has  been  assailed  by  carping  critics  as  regarding 
the  "study  of  the  cause  of  disease  as  utterly  futile  and  absurd." 
This  is  absolutely  false,  for  in  the  third  section  of  his  conception 
of  law,  the  "Organon,"  in  laying  down  his  formula  for  curing  the 
sick,  he  says:  "If,  finally,  he  knows  the  obstacles  to  recovery  in 
each  case  and  is  aware  how  to  remove  them,  so  that  the  restora- 
tion may  be  permanent,  then  he  understands  how  to  treat  judi- 
ciously and  rationally  and  he  is  a  true  practitioner  of  the  healing 
art."  Sections  4  and  5  he  gives  over  entirely  with  specific  empha- 
sis, pointing  out  the  absolute  requirement  as  a  first  consideration, 
removal  of  cause  of  disease  or  obstacles  against  the  cure.  Hahne- 
mann's declaration  of  the  constitutional  nature  of  all  chronic  and 
most  acute  diseases,  was  ahead  of  his  time  and  is  being  confirmed 
by  twentieth  century  pathology.  The  relationship  that  infection 
bears  to  causation  in  disease  has  made  plain  how  many  diseases 
have  a  constitutional  basis  which  were  formerly  regarded  as  purely 
local.  For  example,  pneumonia,  formerly  considered  an  organic 
pulmonary  disease,  now  more  and  more  is  being  regarded  as  a 
true  septicemia,  of  the  pneumococcus,  which  has  long  been  so 
advocated  by  our  colleague,  Dr.  Thomas  McConkey. 

Hahnemann  has  been  accused  of  neglecting  pathology.  His 
standard  of  health  was  the  normal  body.  He,  therefore,  founded 
his  science  on  anatomy  and  physiology,  and  regarded  the  totality 
of  the  symptoms  in  disease  to  be  the  objective  and  subjective  ex- 
pression of  the  pathology.  Contemporaneous  with  Hahnemann, 
pathology  was  conceived  by  the  inspiring  genius  of  Morgagni 
and  the  meteoric  career  of  Bichat.  The  short  life  of  that  famous 
Parisian,  Bichat,  dying  at  23,  gave  birth  to  only  fragmentary  sug- 
gestions in  this  vast  field  of  physical  research.  Modern  pathology 
was  not  born  until  1856,  fifteen  years  after  Hahnemann's  death. 
It  is  much  to  the  latter's  credit  that  he  did  not  build  the  system 
of  homoeopathic  therapeutics  on  the  shiftless  sands  of  earlier 
morbid  anatomy. 

Therapeutics  has  been  a  "bundle  of  perceptions,"  and  it  has 
been  hopelessly  at  a  loss  to  find  the  "principle  that  unites  the 
bundle."  This  principle  is  found  to  be  the  law  of  similia,  that 
has  been  the  synthesizing  activity  which  has  yielded  the  marvel- 
ous results  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Prof.  Ward  says :  "More- 
over, when  we  divest  ourselves  of  the  scientific  bias  and  con- 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  15 

template  medicine  in  its  historical  concreteness,  we  can  see  the 
true  reality  to  be  not  a  mechanism  but  a  realm  of  ends.  It  is 
plainly  seen  that  science  is  concerned  only  with  the  conceptions, 
ignores  the  elements  due  to  the  conative  and  practical  interest  of 
the  subject." 

With  the  publication  of  the  "Organon  of  Rational  Medicine" 
and  the  "Materia  Medica  Pura"  Hahnemann  provided  both  theo- 
retically and  practically  the  requirements  of  homoeopathy  as  a 
distinct  method  of  therapeutics.  The  high  water  mark  of  his 
medical  philosophy  was  now  reached.  He  was  the  first  to  apply 
the  inductive  method  of  research  in  therapeutics.  He  says,  in 
the  preface  to  the  second,  the  1819  edition  of  the  "Organon," 
"The  true  healing  art  is  in  its  nature  a  pure  science  of  experience, 
and  can  and  must  rest  on  clear  facts  and  on  sensible  phenomena 
pertaining  to  their  sphere  of  action.  Its  subjects  can  only  be 
derived  from  pure  experience  and  observation,  and  it  dare  not 
take  a  single  step  out  of  the  sphere  of  pure  well-observed  experi- 
ence and  experiment."  And  again,  "Every  one  of  its  conclusions 
about  the  actual  must  always  be  based  on  sensible  perceptions, 
facts  and  experiences,  if  it  would  elicit  truth." 

Hahnemann's  philosophic  conceptions  were  a  protest  against 
materialism ;  his  conclusions,  the  results  of  years  of  observation 
and  experiment.  He  proved  that  therapeutic  science  cannot  be 
built  on  any  insecure  foundation.  His  teachings  entertain  a 
practical  acceptance  of  the  existence  of  a  vital  principle  animat- 
ing the  body,  and  at  the  same  time  a  similar  force  embodied  in 
every  medicinal  substance.  It  necessitates,  therefore,  a  substantial 
world  of  causes.  From  this  conception  follows  the  pathological 
deduction,  that  the  disturbance  of  the  harmonious  play  of  life 
manifesting  itself  in  symptoms  affecting  the  functions  and  sen- 
sations which  we  call  disease  is  a  disturbance  of  the  same  vital 
force.  The  most  marked  feature  of  early  homoeopathy  was 
its  entire  freedom  from  all  theory  and  hypothesis.  It  was  a  pro- 
test against  all  and  any  pathological  theory  as  a  basis  of  thera- 
peutics. William  Boericke  says.  "Whatever  Hahnemann  pub- 
lished as  a  fact  has  never  yet  been  disproved,  but  his  theories  are 
not  proved.  It  is  the  genuine  Hahnemann  spirit  to  disregard  all 
theories  when  they  are  in  opposition  to  the  results  of  experience. 
Hypotheses  are  of  value  in  so  far  as  they  lead  to  suggestive  ex- 
perimentation." It  is  enough  to  say  that  modern  laboratory  re- 
search is  making  plain  and  is  in  harmonizing  accord  with  Hahne- ' 


i6  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

mann's  therapeutic  doctrine.  Newton  and  D'Alembert's  famous 
treatise  on  dynamics  do  not  pretend  to  reveal  spiritual  mysteries 
as  synonymous  with  mental  but  rather  the  relation  of  the  forces 
of  matter,  and  that  the  vital  forces  of  an  organism  are  superior 
to  material  parts.  Hahnemann  did  not  invent  the  dynamization 
hypothesis  of  matter.  This  was  announced  by  Boscovich  in  1759, 
when  Hahnemann  was  only  four  years  old.  No  better  refutation 
to  the  ridicule  of  attenuations  which  has  been  heaped  upon  Hahne- 
mann and  his  followers,  than  to  mention  the  dosage  of  the  vac- 
cines now  in  clinical  use,  or  again  the  power  of  triturations,  as 
shown  by  the  photographical  action  of  the  radioactive  agents,  so 
accurately  demonstrated  by  the  indefatigable  Bailey  and  Blackmar, 
Moon  says  of  Hahnemann  that  "apart  from  his  peculiar  the- 
ories he  was  a  great  advocate  of  hygiene,  and  in  his  book,  "The 
Friend  of  Health,"  appears  to  have  been  far  in  advance  of  his 
time  as  regards  preventive  medicine."  To  this  if  we  add  his  far- 
reaching  declaration  of  the  germ  theory  of  cholera  and  other 
infectious  diseases,  we  find  him  standing  alone  on  the  threshold 
of  19th  century  medicine,  pointing  the  way  to  future  researches. 
Can  we  doubt  his  right  place  in  medicine  as  an  agnostic  and  in- 
ductive philosopher,  when  we  note  the  establishment  of  his,  the 
first  physiologic-chemical  and  hygienic  laboratory  this  world 
ever  saw?  Over  the  portal  of  its  door  we  see  inscribed,  "Dedi- 
cated to  Modern  Therapeutics,  based  upon  Drug  Proving  in 
Health."  Now,  what  the  science  of  therapeutics  stands  in  need 
of  to-day  is  a  form  of  induction  which  shall  analyze  experience 
and  take  it  to  pieces,  and  by  a  due  process  of  exclusion  and  re- 
jection lead  to  inevitable  conclusion.  Such  we  may  rightly  ex- 
pect from  the  Bureau  of  Clinical  Research  of  the  American  In- 
stitute of  Homoeopathy. 

Hahnemann  did  believe  in  the  "vis  medicatrix  natiirce"  as  is 
shown  by  his  declaration  of  the  effect  of  appropriate  well-proved 
remedies  exciting  the  "vital  force"  to  normal  pitch.  In  this 
belief  he  did  use  the  current  idea  of  "nervous  responses."  which 
had  only  a  little  while  before  been  formulated  by  Brown.  Hahne- 
mann's inductive  philosophy  led  him  step  by  step  from  the  un- 
known to  the  known  in  drug  pathogenesy.  We  find  him  advanc- 
ing in  the  face  of  authority,  taking  the  drug,  observing  effects, 
recording  all  changes  and  noting  reactions.  Under  the  spell  of  his 
reasoning  we  discover  his  recognition  of  causes  as  obstacles  to 
cure  and  the  measure  of  vital  force  his  curative  index.     It  has 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  ly 

been  proven,  clinically,  to  be  true  for  a  century,  but  we  have 
waited  just  i(X)  years  to  have  it  proven  at  Ann  Arbor  and  Boston 
University  by  laboratory  research,  through  opsonic  index  regis- 
tration by  our  distinguished  colleagues,  Burritt  and  Watters. 

In  Hahnemann's  lifework  there  is  a  co-ordinate  body  of  ac- 
curately ascertained  facts.  He  aimed  at  differentiation  of  dis- 
eases apart  from  their  names,  and  the  individualization  of  rem- 
edies as  a  choice  to  their  cure.  The  false  perspective  of  ancient 
posology  was  forever  raised,  and  a  better  adjustment  between 
the  individual  and  the  disease  appeared,  making  clear  rational 
practice.  Medical  knowledge  will  not  be  enduring  unless  com- 
bined with  philosophy,  which  both  Hippocrates  and  Hahnemann 
regarded  as  essential  to  a  physician  and  of  enormous  service  to 
the  common  weal.  Philosophy  is  forever  seeking  to  establish 
among  mankind  the  basis  of  a  rational  existence.  Science  must 
foresee  as  well  as  explain.  As  the  drop  of  rain  starts  but  does 
not  create  the  life  dormant  in  the  grain  of  wheat,  as  the  flash  of 
lightning  reveals  but  does  not  produce  the  visions  of  the  night, 
so  the  simillinium  arouses  the  life  force  in  disease  and  reveals 
the  inherent  power  of  nature  to  respond  to  normal  impulse. 

Hippocrates  discovered  the  glimmer.  Hahnemann  saw  the 
light.  In  the  midst  of  the  law  of  similia  is  the  light,  in  the 
midst  of  the  light  is  the  truth,  in  the  midst  of  the  truth  is  the 
imperishable  opportunity.  If  inquiry  is  to  be  independent,  if 
reason  is  to  walk  alone,  in  what  direction  must  we  walk?  We 
must  walk  with  a  dual  object  in  view — on  the  one  hand  our  in- 
tellectual growth  and  expansion,  on  the  other,  with  sincerity  of 
purpose  seek  the  philosophy  of  the  enlightenment  as  it  pertains 
to  the  treatment  of  disease,  and  lastly  defend  ourselves  against 
discrimination. 

We  move  tozuard  progress. — In  accepting  truth  through  the 
open  door,  come  from  whatever  source  it  may,  for  observation  is 
that  noble  indigenous  plant  which  grows  like  the  palm,  from 
within.  The  primary  impulse  of  philosophy  is  the  hunger  for 
unity. 

In  coming  more  and  more  to  realize  that  homoeopathy  is  a 
specialty  in  therapeutics  which  seeks  the  treatment  of  the  pa- 
tient rather  than  treatment  by  name  of  the  disease. 

In  realizing  that  through  scientific  agnosticism  alone  the  phil- 
osophy of  homoeopathy  has  been  kindled  and  when  applied 
through   laboratory    research   broader    confirmation    will    be    ac- 


1 8  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

quired.  The  future  agnostic  in  medicine  will  be  just  as  potent 
a  factor  as  in  the  past.  Science  is  no  mystery;  it  is  simply  the 
effort  to  reduce  facts  to  laws  and  laws  to  law. 

In  realizing  that  at  all  turns  our  progress  can  only  come  through 
independence  of  thought  and  freedom  of  action.  It  is  in  the 
hunger  to  know  the  objective  truth  of  things,  in  the  immense 
impetus  given  to  the  scientific  spirit,  in  the  fresh  awakening  in 
the  inductive  study  of  the  real  world,  that  the  intellectual  inspira- 
tion of  our  epoch  in  medicine  has  centered.  Closely  allied  to  these 
elements  of  progress,  is  the  present  social  movement  towards 
idealism.  We  detect  the  marvelous  wave,  intense,  determined 
and  widespread,  moving  towards  the  ideal  in  medical  reform.  It 
is  a  movement  we  cannot  stem.  It  ought  not  to  be  stemmed.  It 
should  not  be  stopped, — rather  assisted  and  directed.  It  is  a 
revolt  against  the  tyranny  in  medical  practice  of  the  old  school, 
and  the  shiftless  practice  of  the  new.  It  is  a  recoil  against 
materialism  in  practice  and  an  application  of  idealism  in  method. 
We  cannot  deny  that  to-day  medicine  as  a  whole  is  in  the  trough 
of  the  wave,  where  nothing  is  seen  but  unrest.  The  world's  cry 
is  ever  for  more  light  and  the  prayer  ever  for  more  truth. 

In  the  current  idealism  of  practice  the  aim  is  centered  on  safe- 
guarding the  rights  of  the  individual  against  the  undue  limitation 
of  the  past,  and  will  in  turn  be  answered  by  assuring  the  full  and 
free  play  of  activities  in  all  lines  of  the  healing  art,  composing 
the  social  organism.  It  is  a  movement  destined  to  end  in  aban- 
donment of  crude  measures  in  therapeutics  and  a  better  adjust- 
ment of  intellectual  and  moral  beliefs. 

Kant  worthily  said:  "Two  things  fill  the  mind  with  ever  new 
and  increasing  wonder  and  veneration,  the  more  often  and 
steadily  we  reflect  upon  them:  the  starry  heaven  above  me  and 
the  moral  law  within  me,"  and  of  the  two,  it  is  the  spiritual 
within  us  to  which  we  return  in  the  last  resort  of  science  and 
philosophy. 

This  movement  will  ultimately  enrich  the  respect  for  the  best 
in  medical  practice  and  deepen  the  regard  of  the  world  for  all 
we  have  that  is  substantial  and  true.  The  universal  significance 
will  be  revealed  in  the  essential  setting  of  the  reciprocal  rights 
of  the  patient  and  the  duty  of  the  doctor.  It  is  for  the  homoe- 
opathic school  to  take  hold  of  this  idea,  move  on  the  crest  of  the 
wave  and  without  letting  go  of  any  of  its  basic  philosophy,  seize 
the  opportunity  to  influence  the  laity  towards  Hahnemann's  prin- 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  19 

ciples.  The  tide  is  drifting"  in  the  exactitude  of  the  compass 
toward  the  gentle  power  in  the  healing  art,  towards  truth  as  we 
see  it.  It  must  be  grasped  and  made  to  encircle  the  outposts  of 
our  work  and  the  confines  of  our  faith.  This  is  our  duty !  This  is 
our  opportunity !    Shall  we  prove  ourselves  worthy  ? 

Again,  defense  against  discrimination  is  the  school's  preserva- 
tion. Its  practice  and  its  colleges  are  in  the  balance.  Mental 
freedom  meets  us  at  the  cradle, — opportunity  leaves  us  at  the 
tomb.  Our  first  questions  are  answered  by  asking  another,  and 
our  last  by  pointing  to  the  boundless  unknown. 

That  spirit  of  self,  with  a  consciousness  of  power,  with  an  in- 
tense sense  of  right  and  of  truth,  and  a  disposition  to  project  it 
upon  others,  is  of  necessity  a  domineering  spirit,  and  it  is  that 
which  attempts  to  make  men  bend  to  your  sense  of  what  is  true 
and  what  is  right.  I  do  not,  therefore,  wonder  when  this  is 
wrongly  conceived  that  there  is  a  spirit  of  despotism. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  the  garden  pole  that  is  put  into  the  ground 
for  the  morning  glory  to  twine  around  about  it. 

It  is  not  the  fault  of  the  despot  that  turns  the  educational 
machinery  of  American  medicine  so  that  all  have  to  keep  step  to 
the  music  exactly.  He  may  turn  that  despotism  into  dogma — it 
is  not  his  fault.  He  himself  was  first  the  subject  and  then  the 
master,  and  then  the  despot.  If  there  were  not  men  who  wanted 
to  be  governed,  there  would  not  be  so  many  men  who  want  to 
govern  them ;  and  if  men  in  our  profession  assuming  to  direct 
educational  standards  and  state  medical  legislation  and  would-be 
national  health  board  creations  or  its  doctrines,  are  imperious,  if 
they  are  arrogant,  you  make  them  so. 

It  is  inherent  in  the  fundamental  falsity  of  this  idea  that  any 
body  of  men  in  America  are  commissioned  to  govern  any  other 
body  of  men  by  reason  of  the  supposition  that  they  are  nearer  to 
right  than  others.  True  brotherhood  with  its  uplift  never  harm- 
ed any  body,  because  brotherhood  proceeds  ever  with  justice  for 
its  instrument  in  the  spirit  of  true  medical  development,  and 
works  by  right  as  well  as  by  head. 

Now,  the  moment  that  any  man  stands  among  his  fellowmen 
and  says:  "I  alone  am  right,  and  I  own  all  human  decrees,  and 
I  am  empowered  to  enforce  them  upon  you,  and  I  bring  down 
all  that  is  restrictive  in  the  world  of  medical  legislation  to  lay 
it  upon  other  schools  of  practice  and  their  colleges  that  have  not 
a  vast  endowment,  and  upon  the  conduct  and  Hfe  of  others  than 


20  The  Agnostic  in  Medicine. 

dominant  medicine ;"  the  moment  that  any  organization  has  taken 
possession  of  that  vast  and  un-American  realm,  that  very  moment, 
of  necessity,  it  becomes  an  enemy  to  Hberty,  a  leader  towards 
captivity  and  men  are  bound  by  it  to  be  servants.  So  then,  if 
homoeopathy  in  1910  is  oppressed  by  the  tightening  cordon  of 
organized  inimical  legislation,  it  is  only  because  through  weak- 
ness it  has  invited  it — it  is  because  through  indifference  it  has 
permitted  it. 

Who  are  makers  of  organized  medical  despots?  Weak  men, 
apathetic  men,  for  power  is  not  easily  oppressed.  Strong,  robust 
and  sun-crowned  men  are  not  often  oppressed.  It  is  the  indiffer- 
ent, the  ignorant,  those  that  do  not  know  how  to  defend  them- 
selves, that  in  civil  or  in  intellectual  things  are  oppressed  and  in 
medical  realms  as  well ;  and  the  remedy  for  professional  and  edu- 
cational oppression  is,  measure  your  own  strength  and  power  in 
activity,  translate  your  thoughts  into  deeds,  make  the  common 
people  stronger,  wiser  and  better  informed  of  the  needs  of  liberal 
medicine.  Let  the  homoeopath  wake  out  of  his  somnambulistic 
state  and  make  him  understand  that  carelessness  in  practice,  in- 
difference to  matters  of  school  and  to  matters  of  education  and 
state  laws,  is  an  invitation  to  despotism;  and  give  him  to  under- 
stand that  our  statesmen  who  have  faith  in  the  common  good  for 
our  common  country,  believe  also  in  manhood,  fair  play  and  in 
men.  Give  to  your  state  legislators  an  earnest  of  your  faith, 
urge  upon  them  the  recognition  of  duty  and  importance  of  equal 
rights,  and  then  insist  upon  the  obtaining  of  fair  play  to  all  men. 
Give  to  them  this  spirit  and  there  shall  be  found  no  association 
or  monopoly  that  shall  govern  you  except  as  the  air  governs  the 
flowers,  except  as  the  sun  governs  the  seasons,  for  the  sun  wears 
no  sceptre,  but  with  sweet  kisses  covers  the  ground  with  fragrance 
and  with  beauty.  Government  by  consent  of  the  governed  is 
democratic,  but  by  authority  of  organization  and  machinery  and 
systematic  creeds  or  dogma,  no  man  has  a  right  to  govern  an- 
other, nor  can  he  if  those  other  men  are  not  weak,  effeminate  or 
indifferent. 

I  regard  all  men  and  organizations  who  are  working  towards 
the  enlargement  of  their  fellowmen  as  being  worthy  guides  to- 
wards setting  men  free.  He  too  is  a  prince  among  men,  and 
belongs  to  that  host  of  scientists  and  philosophers  who  are  say- 
ing to  the  rock  and  the  sky  and  to  the  realms  of  nature — 

"What  secret  hath  God  told  you,    Tell  it  to  us!" 


The  Agnostic  in  Medicine.  ±t 

They,  too,  are  making  men  free  and  are  uplifting  the  human 
mind,  and  every  artist  who  paints  upon  his  canvas  or  sculptor 
carving  the  stone  or  mason  rearing  up  stately  marble  expressing 
something  noble  to  men — every  such  man  also  is  working  for 
the  largeness  and  so  for  the  liberty  of  men.  Whosoever  teaches 
men  to  be  earnest,  to  be  seekers  after  truth;  in  short,  whoever 
teaches  manhood  makes  men  free,  for  liberty  means  not  license 
but  such  largeness  and  balance  of  manhood  that  "men  go  right, 
not  because  they  are  told  to,  but  because  they  love  that  which 
is  right." 

We  honor  Hahnemann  because  his  pure  soul  loved  that  which 
was  right;  because  his  stored  mind  of  varied  learning  and 
questioning  spirit  sought  the  truths  of  nature;  because  he  en- 
nobled our  race ;  because  he  has  contributed  as  much  as  any  man 
living  or  dead  to  the  real  prosperity  of  the  world;  because  he 
left  a  legacy  of  helpfulness  to  every  human  being.  We  associ- 
ate his  name  with  other  scientists  who  are  honored  throughout 
the  world.  Millions  are  doing  homage  to  his  genius  at  this 
moment  and  pronouncing  his  name  with  veneration.  Never  for 
one  moment  did  he  abandon  the  sublime  standard  of  truth.  He 
investigated  the  phenomena  of  nature.  He  studied  the  laws  of 
drug  action.  He  thought  much  to  advance  more.  He  separ- 
ated the  scientific  gold  from  the  alloy  in  the  crucible  of  his 
mighty  brain.  He  was  never  found  on  his  knees  before  the 
altar  of  insincerity  or  authority.  He  stood  erect  by  the  grand, 
tranquil  column  of  Reason.  He  was  an  inquisitor,  an  admirer,  a 
lover  of  nature.  Close  to  the  age  of  90,  bowed  by  the  weight 
of  years,  covered  by  the  insignia  of- honor,  beloved  of  two  con- 
tinents with  royalty  to  do  him  homage,  he  laid  his  weary  head 
upon  the  bosom  of  universal  Mother,  and  with  her  loving  arms 
around  him  sank  into  that  slumber  called  Death. 

On  the  starry  scroll  of  the  immortals,  medical  history  has  added 
another  name!  The  good  he  did  in  the  world  is  his  monument; 
within  the  hearts  of  her  suffering  peoples  he  inscribed  his  name, 
and  there  upon  everlasting  stone  at  Pere  La  Chaise  to  his  genius 
is  written  this,  the  sublimest  of  truths — 

"Non  inuHlis  vixi." 


;i61^8o6 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  REFERENCES. 

Aristotle — Biography. 
Hippocrates — Biography. 
Plato — Biography. 

Hahnemann,  Samuel — Organon  of  Rational  Medicine — Dudg- 
eon. 

Bacon — Novum  Organon. 

Ward,  James — Naturalism  and  Agnosticism. 

Mill,  J.  Stuart — System  of  Logic. 

Moon,  R.  O. — The  Relation  of  Medicine  to  Philosophy. 

Paracelsus — Philippus  Theophrastus  Bombast  of  Hohenheim, 
Life  of 

Boericke,  William — Compend  of  the  Principles  of  Homoeopathy. 

Bur  ford,  George — The  Medicine  of  the  Future. 

Emerson,  R.  W.— Representative  Men. 

Descartes — Biography. 

Spinoza — Philosophy. 

D'Alembert — Spirit  of  Laws. 

Newton — Principia. 

Kant — Critique  of  Pure  Reason. 

Hibben— Philosophy  of  the  Enlightenment. 

Conway — Dogma  and  Science. 

Griggs — The  New  Humanism. 

Spencer — Principles  of  Psychology. 

Descartes— Principia  Philosphise. 

Haller — Life  by  Frey. 


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